Jefferson wasn't legally permitted to free all of his slaves in his will, because he died deeply in debt, so, as property, they had to go to his creditors. He did free two while alive and five in his will.
Thomas Jefferson was a remarkable guy, we owe him a great deal.
Jefferson also took up with his late wife’s enslaved teenage half sister, the result of his father in law having taken up with an enslaved teenager himself. After their return from France we get the bizarre occurrence of John Adams and his wife congratulating Jefferson when Sally Hemings bore a child, presumably by Jefferson but possibly by Jefferson’s dissolute brother, who spent much time around the slave quarters, for music if nothing else to play music with them..
How does one congratulate a man for the birth of his enslaved child one wonders, is it like his dog having puppies or what? Not living in those times, I guess we’ll never know for sure.
Jefferson DID eventually free Sally Hemming’s children, which were either his or his brother’s own kids.
Despite his own misgivings about the institution, Jefferson, who gave us the wonderful line We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal... never found the moral courage to free his more than one-hundred regular slaves during his lifetime.
